The charm is that you’re not relying on another dull matrix (like the SWOT) but actually going through an imaginary journey that engages us to think outside of our typical thought patterns. This will already help to take away some reservations with participants who are dreading another tireless SWOT analysis exercise (or other similar exercises). It is an interesting alternative (like the bus and hot air balloon as well) to the more analytical/rational original team canvas.
Just gather all participants and collect their input step-by-step in the process.



There is room here to add a personal story as a facilitator. I usually tell a bit about one of my multi-day hikes, like my summit of Mount Kilimanjaro or my Jordan Trail (Jordan desert) or Arctic Circle Trail (Greenland) thru-hikes.
Discourage long discussions and make clear a lot of input is preferred in this stage of the session.
What you can also do, is to have multiple smaller exercises (e.g. a purpose and culture exercise) and eventually bring them together onto the central visualization.
- Summit: The tangible/intangible outcomes/goals of this team/project. A tangible outcome would be a specific end result (e.g. “customer retention”, “validated app”), an intangible outcome would be more of a feeling (e.g. “all customers feels they were heard and respected”).
- Team (or: team and stakeholders): You can either use the three figures to describe the team or you can use the figure on the left (with the compass) for the team and the others to describe your stakeholders. In describing the team, it would make sense to talk about team values, culture, etcetera. You can even use a simple- or full empathy map for either the team or the stakeholders.
- Expectations: What expectations do we have as a team and/or organization (including the stakeholders)? You can consider using the stinky/smelly fish structure to get negative expectations.
- The things that keep us grounded / solid ground: What are the things we can build on as a team? What are the prerequisites (design anchors, certainties, restrictions) of the project?
- The road ahead / obstacles: Use this to roughly describe the steps towards the end goal, the summit, and/or the most notable obstacles along the way.
Make sure people are able to see each the Team canvas adventure mapping. A large wall or whiteboard, the floor, or a surface you can beam on is usually best.
Alternatively, use a 1-2-4-all structure to generate ideas.
- Make sure you don’t end up in long conversations but collect a lot of input from all participants.